The N.C. Area Health Education Center program is holding a Celebration of Rural Nurses on Friday and is inviting all nurses in the area to attend.

The event will be held from roughly 8 a.m to 5 p.m. on Friday on the Tarboro campus of Edgecombe Community College.The event is designed to provide nurses in Edgecombe County, Nash County and surrounding areas the opportunity for continuing education and professional engagement with other area health care professionals.

“Nurses who serve rural areas provide important care to their communities,” said Jackie Drake, communication director for the Eastern Area AHEC organization based in Greenville. “This is a new event celebrating rural nursing. We’re trying to reach as many local nurses as we can to share how we’re working to meet the unique health needs of rural areas and improve the health of the people of Eastern North Carolina.”

As part of the Celebration of Rural Nursing event in Tarboro, the Rev. Richard Joyner will share his journey of leading the town of Conetoe to improve the health of the youth and community. Nurse practitioners Teresa Tyson and Paula Hill, whose mobile health clinic in Appalachia has been featured on “60 Minutes,” will share their story of two lifelong friends providing access to health care to the people in the rural Appalachia Mountains of Southwest Virginia, according to a press release about the event.

Also on the program, Robin Tutor Marcom will focus on improving the health and safety of the agricultural community including farmers, farm workers, foresters, fishermen and their families. Through her stories, Rocky Mount humorist Angie Ruffin also will encourage laughter and enrich the personal and professional lives of area nurses.

Nurses who attend also will learn more about topics such as social determinants of health and health disparities as well as the opioid crisis in rural settings. Some sessions will be broadcast statewide while other in-person sessions will be unique to each site.The event taking place at Edgecombe Community College will be one of six concurrent conferences held across the state, organized by the N.C. Area Health Education Center program. This event is organized by Eastern, Wake and Area L AHECs.

Advance registration is required at all sites. For more information on the Tarboro event or to register, visit www.easternahec.net and scroll to Dec. 1 on the continuing education calendar. The event page will direct viewers to Wake AHEC, which is handling registrations.